George R.R. Martin Wrote This Adorably Geeky Fan Letter When He Was 15

George R.R. Martin was just 26 when he won the Hugo Award for Best Novella, an impressive feat for such a young writer. But he was published in print over a decade before that ― in the fan mail section of “Fantastic Four #17.”

“In what other comic mag could you see things like a hero falling down a manhole,” Martin wrote. He continued to shower the issue with effusive praise:

“You were just about the World’s worst mag when you started, but you set yourself to an ideal, and, by gumbo, you achieved it! More than achieved it, in fact ― why, if you were only half as good as you are now, you’d still be the world’s best mag!!!”

George R.R. Martin Wrote This Adorably Geeky Fan Letter When He Was 15

10 Sci-Fi And Fantasy Books To Explore

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If thereâs anything we sci-fi fans relish, itâs a good end-of-the-world plot. Chaos induced by a worldwide flu-like epidemic? Sign us up! Massive asteroid? Sure! Stephensonâs take on the apocalypse focuses more on how humanity would respond politically, making for an epic volume worth embarking on. A few survivors remain after the world as we know it ends, and they form seven disparate societies, comprised of seven distant races. For 5,000 years, these groups form their own new traditions. Stephensonâs story centers on the moment in their histories when they finally return to Earth.